Asquith was involved again, with Steff Evans breaking through and giving a try-scoring pass to McNicholl when he could easily have gone it alone.

Benetton started the second-half strongly, with full-back Luca Sperandio crossing after just three minutes before an Ian McKinley penalty moved them in front nine minutes later.

The Scarlets were struggling to get a foothold with loose passes and discipline costing them as the assured performance of the first-half deserted them, with Wales fly-half Rhys Patchell looking rusty on his return from injury after being introduced at the break.

But they did manage to piece something together to retake the lead.

Dan Jones of Scarlets passes (Image: Huw Evans Agency)

A move from one 22 to the other saw Keiron Fonotia waltz through the home defence before feeding McNicholl.

However, the errors remained and Benetton worked their way back out on front after lock Federico Ruzza was on hand to go over untouched from a cross-kick.

McKinley kicked a penalty with 10 minutes left to extend their lead and leave the Scarlets needing a try.

But that never materialised as a last-gasp attacking lineout to snatch victory went awry.